Ammonia Stress and Ammonia Poisoning

What Are the Signs of Ammonia Stress?

(The First Tank Guide)

Ammonia poisoning is a very real threat to your fish, especially
when the tank is new and is still cycling or
if the tank has been stressed and the biological filter has been upset or
removed.

Ammonia stress is caused by two occurrences in the aquarium
chemistry. First is the build up of toxic ammonia and nitrite in the
water. This directly affects the fish and can have a number of harmful
side effects - from increased disease susceptibility to organ
failure. The second component of ammonia stress is the displacement of
oxygen in the water by the ammonia. The more ammonia is in the water,
the less oxygen is available to your fish and your biological filter. Not only does
this further stress the fish and pose a risk of suffocation, but it
also decreases the efficiency of the biological filter. This is among
the reasons that water changes are so important when your tank is cycling to insure a smooth and headache free
cycle.

What is the Difference Between Ammonia Poisoning and Ammonia
Stress?

Ammonia stress and ammonia poisoning are really the same thing. It
is also referred to as nitrogen poisoning or nitrogen stress as
well. Generally, though it is not referred to as 'poisoning' until you
have actually lost a fish. Until that time, it is referred to as
ammonia stress.

Signs of Ammonia stress

The signs of ammonia stress are usually pretty easy to detect,
especially if you are paying attention to your fish regularly.

Lethargy

Loss of appetite

Hovering at the bottom of the tank (especially for surface
dwelling fish)

Gasping at the surface

Inflamed gills

Red streaks or inflammation in the fins

Inflamed eyes or anus

This list of symptoms is by no means exhaustive of the symptoms of
ammonia poisoning or ammonia stress. However, these are many of the
more common symptoms, and generally they will show up in more-or-less
this order. However, since, especially in new or particularly small tanks, the ammonia level can rise quite
quickly, particularly if the tank is overpopulated, you may see a very rapid
succession between these symptoms.

What Do I Do for Ammonia Stress or Ammonia Poisoning?

Actually, this is quite simple - do a water change. You may be tempted to use an
ammonia remover, however, this
should almost always be avoided because this can have long-term
negative side effects on the tank, and is rarely helpful for very
long.

A water change, however, will remove some of the excess ammonia
from the aquarium (provided you are not using source water with a lot of ammonia in
it), and will allow the biological filter to begin to process the
excess waste while relieving the stress on the fish.

when the tank is still cycling, you will
need to perform these water changes regularly to keep the ammonia from
building up and prevent 'new tank
syndrome,' which is usually just ammonia poisoning.

What if Ammonia Poisoning Keeps Coming Back?

Once the tank has cycled, you should no longer be seeing signs of
ammonia stress or ammonia poisoning. If you are seeing similar stress
symptoms, there could be another chemical problem with your water, or
your fish may be sick.

However, if the ammonia poisoning keeps coming back, you may have
another problem. The most common is overpopulation, though over
feeding can also be a cause of ammonia poisoning. Insufficient
filtration can be another contributor to high ammonia levels in the
fish tank. If you repeatedly run into ammonia problems, provided the
tank is cycled, you should look first into
your tank population, then at your
feeding habits, and then into your filter maintenance, tank cleaning, chemical use, and the overall capabilities of
your filter.